I know a lot of you don’t like Cristiano Ronaldo for different reasons. He’s not your regular, super-likeable kind of a person. He’s loved a lot by his fans, and hated with passion by others.

I’ve followed this player’s work since Euro 2004. Ronaldo was nowhere close to the star he is today. He played for Sporting Clube de Portugal, a popular local football club in the Portuguese capital. There was definitely something special about that 17-year-old’s game.

Fast-forward to today, Cristiano Ronaldo is 28 and an absolute juggernaut in football world. He’s broken tons of records, and his performances continue to be consistently top-notch in every game that he plays. Almost every colleague of his, every coach that he’s played under has not only been impressed, but also surprised many times at his professionalism and discipline as a footballer. I have read and seen a lot of this player since almost a decade now, and I honestly run out of words trying to describe his work ethic. It’s absolutely uncanny.

What Ronaldo doesn’t exhibit sometimes, is humility. Humility obviously becomes hugely important when the world knows you. It’s natural for many people to dislike him because of this. But are you going to ignore the raw talent that lies within?

I’ll tell you what, (as said in one old Apple ad about geniuses) you can vilify him as much as you want. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore him. You’re never going to be able to ignore his work ethic. You’re never going to be able to ignore his performances, which have been (and ones that will be) immortalized in history.

I’ll end this with a video of one of Ronaldo’s goals. This was in 2008; the season he was awarded the Ballon d’Or (best player in the world) prize. I personally think it’s one of the best goals scored by him. Just listen to the commentary from Martin Tyler and Andy Gray:

Oh and by the way, here’s what Ronaldo had to say after what Blatter said in that video:

This video shows clearly the respect and consideration that FIFA has for me, for my club and my country. Much is explained now. I wish Mr. Blatter health and a long life, with the certainty that he will continue to witness, as he deserves, the successes of his favourite teams and players.

Hate this guy as much as you want, but have some fuckin empathy for a human who has spent most of his life working tirelessly towards his passion, putting mind-blowing performances for you in the process.